The Search
by sapiens machina
Summary: Alex was an ordinary teenager. He went to school, defied his parents, and like a pretty girl from his class, just like every other teenager. That would all change in the blink of an eye. This is the story of a simple teenager who never thought that he would have to face great calamity, tragedy and disaster, or have such a profound effect on the galaxy.


**Disclaimer - Mass effect belongs to BioWare.**

Prologue

Alex snapped his fingers in front of a man. He was sitting down on a chair, hands bound to the arms, head lolled to one side. There was no response to the sound of him snapping his fingers, no reflexive twitch that would've happened had the man been conscious. Alex placed his fingers on the man's neck, checking his pulse, who was, thankfully, still alive. The unconscious man was bruised and bloodied, his hair slick with blood. His eyes were closed, mouth hanging slightly open, blood and drool dripping out onto the cold concrete floor. Alex knew that he would have to wake him up again, and wake him he would. The two men were in a small brightly lit room, bathed in harsh fluorescent lighting. There were no windows or decorations, merely whitewashed walls, a chair and a small table, on top of which lay a small metal try, covered in scalpels and other surgical instruments. They had all been bloodied. Amongst these instruments was a bottle labelled "smelling salts". Alex picked it up, opened the vial and placed it against the unconscious man's nose, who immediately shot up, brown eyes wide with fear.

"Please, just let me go! I don't know anything!" His voice shook, and the man looked to be on the verge of breaking down.

Alex grimaced. He would have to continue. "No, Sebastian, you do, and until you tell me where she is, you will not know peace."

Sebastian's eyes darted around the room, obviously looking for a way out. This small but significant action didn't escape Alex's notice. "You know, there is no way out." He said, slowly picking up a small scalpel.

Sebastian started panicking, his breath coming in short gasps. "Don't do this. Someone took her, and I have no idea where she is." His eyes never left the blade in Alex's hands.

Alex paused for a second, then stooped down and looked Sebastian square in the eyes. "You know what happens to people who lie to me?" He twirled the scalpel in his hand a few times and gently brushed the blade against Sebastian's arm. He shivered at the touch of the cold, hard metal and squirmed, trying to get as much distance as possible between himself and what was sure to be a painful experience.

Alex looked down at the scalpel, which gently rested against Sebastian's arm. "What am I talking about, of course you do. I've been causing it all night." He placed the scalpel back onto the tray. "Why don't we try something a little more…persuasive?" A thin blue sheen winked into existence around Alex, tendrils of eldritch power flickering all around him. Sebastian's breathing suddenly became laboured, and he struggled for each breath, chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. Alex looked him in the eyes again. "You know I'm a biotic, right? Traditionally, torture has always been performed with cold, hard, physical instruments. Knives, hammers, you know the like. I don't need them though." The instruments of torture on the small metal tray floated up into the air, as if they were pulled up by invisible strings, then slowly settled into an orbit around Sebastian's head. "All I need is my brain and three good meals, and I can cause all kinds of pain." Sebastian suddenly screamed, and he looked down at his left hand. One of his fingers was completely crushed, the bone shattered, blood leaking out from the now useless digit.

Alex grinned. "They say that imagination is the most powerful force. I can be very imaginative when it comes to this particular…subject. Let's get a little more creative." Sebastian still hadn't stopped screaming or straining against his restraints. The plastic ties cut into his arms, drawing blood, which freely flowed down his bare arms. Alex concentrated again, furrowing his brows. The instruments orbiting Sebastian's head fell from their orbit, sharp scalpels burying themselves in his flesh. Alex slapped Sebastian hard across his face and then held him in manner that did not allow him to look away. "Still not going to tell me, Sebastian?" Alex growled, his voice low and hard. "That's completely fine. Let's see who will win; gravity, or your will." A shimmering, chaotic ball of blue light formed in Alex's hands, who promptly placed it an inch away from Sebastian's face.

Alex grinned again. "Have you ever heard of a warp? You probably have. Rapidly shifting gravitational fields can cause a tremendous amount of damage. Survivors of this particular phenomenon all say that it's the most painful thing that they've ever felt. Even if you do survive, the scars that you'll have will make sure that nobody ever looks at you the same way again."

Sebastian's eyes never left the centre of the little blue ball of destruction. He didn't say anything for the next few seconds, but after a short while, he finally broke. Sebastian cast his eyes downward, towards he floor, completely defeated. "Enough." He said, voice shaking from pain and shock. "She's on a planet called Redox, on the outer rim." Alex dropped the grin, all the "humour" gone from his face. "Who took her? Tell me, or suffer a fate that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."

He didn't say a word, eyes cast down on the ground. "I only know their name. Every conversation we ever had was in the form of an anonymous email, and I was paid by a transfer of funds from an offshore account. They called themselves "Fargo"." Alex tried his best not to show any emotion at all, but on this journey he had heard that name many times, each with the same result. Everything, and everyone related to this name got burned. Evidence disappeared into nothing, and people died left and right. In other words, Sebastian was a dead man walking.

"Thank you, Sebastian. I said that you would never know peace if you didn't tell me what you knew. Now that you have, I'd be happy to grant you that peace." Alex picked up a scalpel and placed it against the restraints on Sebastian's arms, whose expression immediately brightened. "You're going to let me go?" Sebastian said, the hope evident in his voice.

"Yes, you get to walk free. After all, you did everything that I asked of you." He cut the restraints that were tied to Sebastian's hands and feet, and the shattered man immediately collapsed out of the chair, crying his eyes out. Sebastian struggled to his feet, took a few, careful steps and turned to look at Alex. "Thank you for keeping your word. You won't ever see me again." Alex only nodded. Sebastian slowly hobbled to the door, only to be felled by a single gunshot after he had taken a few steps. In his hands, Alex held a pistol, the barrel still smoking. "I said you'd walk free, but not for how long."

* * *

Alex left the room after dealing with the mess he left behind, which was cleaned up by a small drone, whose sole job was to take care of any evidence he had left behind. Sebastian's body was burned up by a small but powerful laser, the ashes vacuumed up. All of Alex's "instruments" were thoroughly cleaned and packed into a black linen lined case. The various miscellaneous bodily fluids scattered around the room were taken care of by a sterilization program built into the drone. It was as if nothing had ever happened there.

He processed the information given to him by Sebastian. She was on a planet in the middle of nowhere. In fact, he had never even heard of the place. In all likelihood, "Fargo's" headquarters was situated there. He would have to brave the lion's den with next to zero information, but for her, he would do anything. Alex made his way over to the spaceport and stepped into his ship, flying out into the black expanse that was space. It was time. After months of searching, he finally found a clue. It was time to go find Shepard and bring her back home.

* * *

 **A/N - After a break from Fanfic, I've decided to start writing again, and do it regularly this time. I wrote another story "Assassin by Circumstance", but I didn't exactly enjoy writing it, so I stopped. Do check it out though, and if you think that it's worth continuing, I would consider starting it up again. Anyways, please R &R, flame if necessary. Leave a comment down below!**


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